It is somewhat comforting to know that at least one leader has a spine to both say and do something about the shit show that Trump and Israel have started.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93wwq1n542o
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/02/spain-denies-united-states-permission-military-bases-iran-pedro-sanchez
[scroll down for all-English and all-Spanish]
Press events | António Guterres, Secretary-General
As delivered (Spanish, English)
Querido Pedro Sánchez, Presidente del Gobierno de España quiero agradecerte y agradecer al Gobierno y al pueblo de España por la magnífica organización de esta Conferencia y por la extraordinaria hospitalidad que estamos recibiendo.
España es un pilar del multilateralismo, un socio firme de las Naciones Unidas y un defensor del desarrollo – como demuestra, una vez más, al acoger esta importante conferencia.
España es también una voz líder mundial por la paz – y comprende los profundos vínculos entre el desarrollo y la paz.
At a time of profound global turmoil, we must keep working for peace, for peace in the Middle East.
For an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of all hostages, and unimpeded humanitarian access as a first step to achieve the two-State solution.
For the ceasefire between Iran and Israel to hold.
For a just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter, international law and UN resolutions.
For an end to the horror and bloodshed in Sudan.
We know that sustainable peace requires sustainable development.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media.
As I said in opening the Conference this morning, development is not just about numbers on a page.
It’s about food, health care and education.
It’s about jobs and social protection.
It’s about infrastructure like water systems, internet access and climate-resilient buildings.
It’s about providing equal opportunity for girls and women which moves all societies ahead.
It’s about easing human suffering, and driving progress across every community, large and small.
Development is about people.
And we have collectively made great strides in development in recent decades.
But progress doesn’t happen on its own.
It takes support and investment.
As we meet, the world is falling behind in its commitments to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Achieving them will take an investment of more than $4 trillion a year.
And meanwhile, global growth is slowing, trade barriers are rising, and aid budgets are falling.
Developing countries are drowning in debt service payments, which have skyrocketed to $1.4 trillion every year.
And the great enabler of development — international cooperation — is being chipped away by geopolitical mistrust and division.
Now, this Conference is about rebuilding that trust with concrete commitments.
With the adoption of the Sevilla Commitment document, countries are proving their dedication to getting the engine of development revving again:
Through new domestic and global commitments that can channel public and private finance to the areas of greatest need…
By overhauling the world’s approach to debt to make borrowing work in service of sustainable development...
And by reforming the global financial architecture to reflect today’s realities and the urgent needs of developing countries, that must have a much stronger voice and participation in the institutions of this financial architecture.
The Sevilla Platform of Action being launched later today will help us move from words to action.
It contains dozens of new practical initiatives to accelerate funding for development around the world.
This includes the commitment to establish a borrowers forum for countries to learn from one another and coordinate their approaches in debt management and restructuring.
This is one of 11 immediately actionable proposals to help resolve the debt crisis, backed by my group of experts on debt that will be publishing their report.
I look forward to working closely with Member States — including the G20 — to bring this forum to life.
Por encima de todo, Sevilla va de soluciones.
Y de encontrar esas soluciones en un momento de dificultades y división para la familia humana.
Espero que nuestros esfuerzos colectivos aquí en Sevilla puedan inspirar y motivar a los países del mundo a trabajar unidos para resolver otros desafíos globales.
Y una vez más, quiero agradecer al Presidente del Gobierno y al pueblo español por dar la bienvenida al mundo aquí en Sevilla.
Muchas gracias.
Question: [AFP] Sí, muchas gracias Presidente y Secretario General quería preguntarles concretamente por la implementación del Compromiso de Sevilla sobre todo para los ciudadanos del Sur Global porque han visto muchos intentos anteriores que se han visto frustrados y truncados y que podrían decirles para comentarle usted este nuevo intento de impulsar y potenciar la ayuda al desarrollo si se va a concretar y que bueno si esas pretensiones se llevarán a cabo y que sean efectivas y duraderas.
Secretary-General: Well, let's be clear. This conference takes place in one of the most difficult moments that I have witnessed in my public life. A moment of division, a moment in which we see conflicts multiplying and we see enormous difficulties for developing countries to overcome the challenges they face. And this is true in relation to debt, it's true in relation to climate, it's true in relation to all the aspects of development. And what is remarkable is that in this moment that is so difficult and where countries are so divided, it was possible to approve a Sevilla Commitment that represents one step ahead of both the Addis Ababa development conference, and – more important than that – one step ahead in relation to the Summit of the Future, just one year and a half ago. And so, the question is clear. There is a solid will of the bulk of the international community to change the system in order to allow for developing countries to benefit with the progress and development. And we know that there are resistances. We know that this is essentially a question of power. But I have a clear message to the powerful: It is better for them to lead the reform of the system now than to wait and eventually suffer the resistance later, when power relations change. And I believe that the reforms that are proposed in Sevilla, in line with the work that was done in the Summit of the Future, are reforms that are absolutely needed both for developing and developed countries.
Question: [EFE] Después del golpe que ha supuesto para la cooperación la actitud de Estados Unidos, si temen que el debate que existe actualmente en torno al aumento del gasto en defensa sirva de argumento a otros países para reducir también su cooperación.
Secretary-General: Comprendo la obligación que tengo por decisión de la Cumbre del Futuro, yo voy a plantear dentro de muy poco tiempo un informe sobre el impacto de la carrera armamentística y de sus gastos sobre el desarrollo sostenible. Pero hay una observación que me gustaría hacer, cabe a cada país determinar sus necesidades en materia de defensa. Pero si hablo mucho en esta Conferencia de sobre todo en relación con los países en desarrollo de la necesidad de movilizar los recursos propios. Y yo pienso que lo que es natural es si un país considera que tiene que incrementar su gasto de defensa, debe utilizar sus recursos propios para eso y no financiar el incremento del gasto de defensa con la reducción de la ayuda humanitaria a los pueblos más desprotegidos del mundo.
Question: [Reuters] My question is for the Secretary-General Guterres. In the event that the United States were to pull out from some of the major multilateral and development banks, who do you believe would be able to step in to try and fill that investment gap, and how can the United Nations help the MDB system cope in such a scenario? Thank you.
Secretary-General: There is one thing that clearly evident for me. This is a moment in which we cannot expect increases in the official development assistance, but there are ways to multiply the resources available. And one of the things that we have approved here in Sevilla is to triple the lending capacity of multilateral development banks. And the logic is very simple. You have less ODA, okay. If you use your ODA, financing project by project, one dollar or one euro has the value of one dollar or one euro. If you use that dollar or that euro to increase the capital of a multilateral development bank, it allows the bank to go to the market to find more – six, seven or eight – and to increase the funds available to support developing countries. It's a question of political will. There are ways to multiply resources. The same with the special drawing rights. The special drawing rights are created from nothing, let us say. And if you distribute special drawing rights through the IMF, one dollar is one dollar. One euro is one euro. If you do it through multilateral development banks, again, you multiply the resources. So, it's time to seriously think about innovative forms of financing. To put a tax on carbon, to create levies in relation to several areas of activity, namely the impacts of maritime transportation in relation to climate change. I mean, there are many ways to multiply the resources available if we have the political will for that. And this can be done with the countries that are willing to do so, of course. To have the United States on board would be excellent, but it can be done in any case by those willing to do so.
